Category: Movie

In this episode, we welcome back Wesley (from our last episode) to share some of the more fascinating aspects of the Chinese language including:

– How abbreviations work in Chinese (and how they differ from English)
– Why Chinese can’t be the next global language
– Why understanding Chinese culture is so important to understanding Chinese
– The actual meaning of “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon”
– How chengyus are formed, used and developed
– Sarcasm in Chinese culture and how it’s used
– How he learns and uses chengyus, and how this differs from how native speakers learn them
– Why accents in Chinese don’t matter
– Why Chinese TV has Chinese subtitles
– How the writing system of dialects like Taiwanese has evolved
– The multiple ways that dialects can be subtitled
– “False friends” in Chinese
– How colors in Chinese are used differently than they are in English
– Why language learning is a series of plateaus with no distinct peak

 

The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 017: Wesley Insights appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.

In this episode, I interview Wesley. He’s an American, with degrees in Chinese and translation.

Listen to this episode to find out:

• How Wesley got interested in Chinese in the first place.
• How he found Chinese easier to learn as a second language than Spanish.
• What his teacher did to significantly increase his interest in learning Chinese.
• Why it’s important to learn the whole culture rather than just the language.
• What aspect of Chinese drove his main interest in the language.
• His biggest struggle learning Chinese in LA.
• What his best decision was, regarding learning Chinese.
• What he learned on the street that they don’t teach in textbooks.
• What he learned from taking a degree in translation.
• Why he learned more from his grad school classmates than from local friends.
• What happens to foreigners as they live in Taiwan / China for an extended period.
• The difference in culture working for a Taiwanese run company.
• Why you also need to maintain your English, while living in a foreign country.
• The benefits and limitations of having a local partner, with regards to improving your Chinese.

The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 016: Wesley Holzer appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.

Dominic is from Oregon, USA, and now lives in Taichung, Taiwan with his wife and 3 year old twins. Listen to this episode to find out:

– What made Dominic move to China at the tender age of 16
– What it was like as a teenager living in China
– Why he lost a lot of weight while living in China
– What aspect of being a foreigner in China was the biggest cultural shock to him
– What brought him to Taiwan a couple of years later
– The biggest differences he noticed between Kunming, China and Taiwan
– What it was like to take a university degree in Chinese with local Taiwanese students
– How he transitioned from teaching English to his current position as Director of Operations for a US Tech company
– His advice for people wanting to transition into a different career path in Taiwan / China
– How he uses Chinese in his daily life
– His approach to language with his Taiwanese wife and his kids
– Why he changed his language approach with his kids
– His thoughts on educating his kids at this young age

 

The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 015: Dominic Cope appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.

We have added a couple of new options to the pricing page.

New users now have the option of choosing between the existing Premium Online plan, or the new Guided Plan.

In addition to all the features from the regular online plan, the guided plan also provides an assignment for each lesson. This usually requires you to record yourself answering a question related to the lesson. If you require additional or customized vocabulary not taught in the lesson, you can ask the teacher who will provide an answer within 1 business day.

The guided plan also includes a level certification test for levels 1, 2 and 3. This consists of two parts. Part 1 is a timed online vocabulary test to see if you can identify vocabulary taught from lessons in your selected level. If you pass this test (80% or higher score), you then qualify for an online Skype test with one of our teachers.

We have prepared a set of questions for each of levels 1, 2 and 3. If the teacher is satisfied with your answers (passing score of 80% or higher) then you receive your certificate, which can be printed out.

Existing users can only purchase level certification tests for levels 1, 2 and 3. In the coming days, we will also add level certification options to the redeem credits program.

The post Guided Plan and Level Certification appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.

In this episode, I interview “Bear” – originally from Scandinavia, now working in China.

Listen to find out:

– What brought him to China in the first place
– His initial hardships in China
– Why he felt he wasn’t capable of learning Chinese in the beginning
– Why he didn’t make progress learning initially, and what changed that
– What motivated him to start learning characters
– The drastic improvement being able to speak Chinese had on his daily life
– How he’s able to make friends with local Chinese
– What aspect made a great improvement in his qualify of life in China
– Some of the big differences in company culture he found in China versus Europe
– The big difference in job interviews between China and Europe
– His experience with “face” and trust in Chinese companies
– His recommendations for foreigners living in Chinese communities and in local relationships
– How he learned to communicate using a Chinese version of English
– How learning Chinese compares to learning other languages
– His advice to foreigners who haven’t tried to learn Chinese yet, because they believe they aren’t capable
– Why it’s ok to make mistakes while speaking

The post Learn Chinese Insights Podcast Episode 022: Bear appeared first on Chinese Learn Online.